Hi Nonye, great write up indeed. Loved it. It is absolutely true that iti is 'the human truth' that connects us as consumers and even as people. While I agree with Tim that our desires and needs often cut across race, religion and beliefs that have global similarity; the issue of 'differentiation' must not be ignored in the push for universal homogeneity. What has kept Africa in the shadows for so long is our belief that a European or American branding and creative concept must fit our perspectives. It never does. So, quite clearly we must consider local factors in every country system we hope to impact in. In investing in Africa we must identify the 'differentiating' factor that makes Angola, for instance, different from Cote de Voire and use that as the basis for creating unique branding concepts that can impact favourably in our choice target market. Of course ROI is evidently the final arbiter for assessing how effective our branding and marketing concepts did, but success in any market, particularly in Africa, comes with some degree of 'differentiation'-appreciation in our research process.

We all agree and that is why we have started the OurfutureSA & Cape Town Television series focused on career guidance and skills development. This series will be incorporated into the curriculum to assist learners with their career paths.

It is an interesting idea. Like most people, I get far too many blind copied emails, that somehow absolve the sender of responsibility. When the poo hits the fan, they can look back at their sent box and simply say, 'but I sent you the mail!' And send you another copy to compound the problem.

We all need simple communication, that is directed at us, if we are needed to action anything. I spend half my day shifting through pointless mails, trying to understand if I have actually been required to do anything as a result of the ambiguous mails I receive.

Used properly, it is a brilliant tool, but sadly, it is being used badly by too many insecure people who see it as a tool to cover their asses. Simple, clear communication will alleviate that.

I say, make email use effective or don't use it. Bit like the hundreds of meaningless meetings that get conducted in businesses on a daily basis. I can't recall anything good coming out of a meeting for ever! Because, they too have no clear agenda or end objective defined.

Hi Nonye, fantastic article. Although brands may represent invaluable intangible assets, creating and nurturing a strong brand poses considerable challenges. Many business executives now recognize, perhaps one of the most valuable assets that any firm has is the processes and factory designs often can be duplicated, strongly held beliefs and attitudes established in the mind of consumers often cannot be so easily reproduced. The difficulty and expense of introducing new products however always puts more pressure to skillfully launch new products as well as managing existing brands. One always has to reflect new thinking concepts in order to adopt stronger global perspectives by updating and streamlining. The emphasis is placed on understanding the psychological principles at individual or organizational levels as to how to improve decision making with respect to brands.

Point is they knew they were on shaky grounds. Therefore they should have prepared better. There was no notification sent to ticket holders but they continued to let customers but tickets after they announced that they were liquidating. Now what is that?